31. August 2010 by Friedhelm.

This is one of those images that make you think. Does it show a soldier or a monk, or both? In one hand a sword in the other a cross and a foot on top of a ball which could symbolize the earth. Does this image describe the vision and philosophy of the Spaniards, to come to the new world with arms and religion?

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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27. August 2010 by David.

While in Bodie I came across this window repair.

I liked the structure and the textures. The weathered wood, crumbling putty, and the wonderful antique lock. Don’t you just love the ingenuity of the person who made the repair. All against a white curtain background that is, in fact, in perfect shape because this in one of the houses that the State park employees live in.

I couldn’t however, decide whether it should be in color or black and white. You decide!

We’ll be counting the votes.

Keep clicking

Dave

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18. August 2010 by Friedhelm.

David and I were reflection on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. We asked ourselves: What is it that we had the feeling of piety while we were there. We decided that it was not the wall itself. It was the names of those fallen soldiers. Each and everyone of them were alive at one point and now they are gone. Each of them had parents, many had spouses or brothers and sisters. There were so many lives affected by their death. Seeing those names on this wall made war and the horror of war visible to us.

I hope for peace this day!

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17. August 2010 by Friedhelm.

I photographed this former Vietnam veteran pilot at the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Chowchilla, CA. This wall moves from town to town. You can get for information about it at the following link: http://www.themovingwall.org/.

The wall brought back many memories and the small Chowchilla park was transformed into a place of tears, remembrance and piety. People shared their stories, left flowers and cried. I believe a lot of healing took place during the few days the wall was in Chowchilla.

Have a peaceful Tuesday!

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22. June 2010 by Friedhelm.

A block from the capitol you will find the Cathedral. Unfortunately parking is very limited and we had only two quarters which gave us 24 minutes time to photograph. A friendly janitor opened the balcony for me and I was able to photograph this image.

Churches are usual great places for inspiration. There are many subjects to photograph in them and I always get a feeling of reverence and respect. In many churches I had the feeling to slow down and reflect about what is important in life. The photographer Roman Loranc stated something similar about the churches in eastern Europe:“I’m fascinated by the ancient churches of my homeland. These are holy spaces where millions of people have prayed for hundreds of years. They are places of great humility, and remind us how brief our lives are.” This quote is from his website: http://www.romanloranc.com/biography.html

Enjoy!

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17. June 2010 by Friedhelm.

I took my usual photo walk this morning around 6:00AM when the light is just beautiful. I discovered this Iris which was still wet from the sprinkler system. I used an old 55mm prime lens combined with an extension tube to get this image. Enjoy!

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12. May 2010 by Friedhelm.

While I was photographing the dancers at the Stanford Pow-Wow I discovered this lady with her green sucker. I could not help it. I had to take this shot and I love it.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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11. May 2010 by Friedhelm.

Shooting the dancers at the Pow-Wow was actually more difficult than I originally thought. The light deteriorated very fast and I had to crank up the ISO setting quite a bit. A lot more difficult was the background setting. The dance area was surrounded by spectators and modern tents. There are options to deal with this problem: I could shoot very tight around the subject, I could blur the background or I could use the sometimes undesired distortion (dog nose) effect of a wide angle lens which lets the center of the image appear to be bigger than it actually is. In this image I used this option. I was ho;ding the camera close to the ground and I was waiting until a few dancers were close to the camera. I was pretty happy with the result.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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10. May 2010 by Friedhelm.

I feel very privileged that I had the opportunity to photograph at the Stanford Pow-Wow. The dances were magnificent and a great opportunity for every photographer. This female dancer was simply standing out. She danced somehow different and I had the feeling of dignity when I watched her and photographed her. I hope I caught this feeling of dignity and grace in this image.

Enjoy

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1. March 2010 by Friedhelm.

I had the opportunity to photograph at a dress rehearsal. The light was extremely dark so I had to set my ISO as high as possible. I was still able to get some decent shots, like this one. Camera setting: Focal length 60mm, f4, 1/100sec., ISO 6400.

Enjoy and have a great week!

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